


such a brilliant way to drown

by Bleeding_Cosmos



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Sort Of, Strangers to Lovers, Violence Mentions, betaed by my best friend, minor blood at the beginning!!, water and fire analogies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29578320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bleeding_Cosmos/pseuds/Bleeding_Cosmos
Summary: He’s picking a very cute red mushroom spotted with white when he hears someone yelling through the trees,“HELLO?! ANYONE OUT THERE!?” Bad whips his head up looking around the yelling sounds panicked before he can even think about it he calls back,“HELLO?” The yelling stops after that and then suddenly he hears branches crunching and someone running towards him. He almost screeches when a man runs out of the bushes, his clothes torn up covered in dirt, and dripping with sweat.in which Bad finds a man in the woods with shimmering jewels and a hurt bloody side wearing a smile
Relationships: Zak Ahmed/Darryl Noveschosch
Comments: 24
Kudos: 160





	such a brilliant way to drown

**Author's Note:**

> I took a break from my main series to do this LMAO anyways whipped this up in about a week I hope you like it <3  
> (And ofc don't send this to cc's, and respect all the cc's boundaries! Don't force this onto the real people I'm just writing about their streaming personas!)

Bad had never been one to like himself. He had nothing against everyone’s normal insecurities, he found his appearance fine, and he had quite a lovely personality. There was just one thing that gnaws at him every day and he can’t change it even if he wanted to. 

It was the fire that he could will to his fingertips. He never knew what caused it or when it happened, but one day he could just _feel_ the burning of the fire. It hurt, it always did, but he could manipulate fire a bit. Play with the shape, size, and if he concentrated enough, the color of the flames. It was a horrid feeling he never knew why he kept trying, it was a bit like an addiction he supposes. The withdraws were worse than the actual burn, the feeling of smoke crowding his head and limbs until he burnt something for relief. 

It scared the others, in the village he had once lived in. So when he was old enough he ran, he ran as fast as he could to a place he built for himself in the woods. Well, it was more a clearing in the woods, but still nice. He wouldn’t have children to stare at him when he walked around or adults would give him dirty looks. It was stupid really, he never did anything to them they just thought he was strange. They never hated him, but they never liked him either.

So he left. He never looked back either. He did miss his parents on occasion, but nothing could bring him back there. The feeling of cruel isolation was worse than any amount of guilt his parents could pile onto him. 

He loves his life now, learned to enjoy simple things he couldn’t truly appreciate when under constant judging eyes. Such as flowers, he never knew they were so soft until in the woods where he had nothing better to do than lay in the fields.

He appreciates the feeling of silly fear. Not the jaw clenching anxiety-inducing fear, more of the jumping at a noise in the woods seeing it was only a rabbit type of fear. The type you could laugh at later, he found it endearing. 

He started singing and dancing more often. He never really had enough confidence to back to the village, but the woods was freedom. He takes a chance he can get to dance around, sing songs he makes them up as he goes, he can never get enough of it. The stories in his head with the off-tune singing. 

He misses his friends. He had a few, of course, they were strange in their own way. A boy who never showed his face, he never said why. A boy who claimed he was born in fire, that annoyed Bad a bit. That boy would never know fire the same way he did. One other boy couldn’t see colors the way all of the others could. Bad liked to talk to him, they both had struggles that they couldn’t fix. It was a twisted sort of comfort to talk to him about the fire, the boy would nod and listen. He was an excellent listener, a little too good. 

Now he has a home in the woods. With this home in the woods came the freedom to do whatever he pleases with it. He smiles every time he remembers that. He has many gardens, full of fruit and vegetables, all he could get his hands on, some special herb and flower gardens as well. They were his proudest achievement he’d worked on them for years to make them so perfect in his eyes. 

Now Bad walks through the woods to do a bit of foraging. He’d remembered a recipe for mushroom stew he had wanted to try again, to maybe get rid of a bit of homesickness. As a plus it requires heat, the smoke wouldn’t clog his mind any further today. He’s picking a very cute red mushroom spotted with white when he hears someone yelling through the trees,

“HELLO?! ANYONE OUT THERE!?” Bad whips his head up looking around the yelling sounds panicked before he can even think about it he calls back,

“HELLO?” The yelling stops after that and then suddenly he hears branches crunching and someone running towards him. He almost screeches when a man runs out of the bushes, his clothes torn up covered in dirt, and dripping with sweat. The man isn’t even looking at him, he's bent over hands on his knees catching his breath, even more concerningly he’s _laughing_ . Bad tries to back away, but the man looks up at him, and _oh_ he’s pretty. He has a beautiful smile even though Bad has no clue why he’s smiling he looks like he was just thrown off a cliff and dragged back up. His eyes are a beautiful brown, it’s what he could only imagine is what is past the blue of the sky as strange as it sounds. Bad only manages to choke out an,

“Are you okay?” The man doesn’t even say anything he just bursts out laughing again grinning. Bad’s a little worried the man may have hit his head, but the man says something,

“Well, I do look like this don’t I?” He points to himself the dirt and blood. _Wait what_ , Bad glances back to a gash in the man’s side and starts panicking,

“Oh my goodness! You’re bleeding!” The man looks down his face contorting a bit at the sight,

“Oh. I guess that reopened.” Bad’s eyes were wide,

“Reopened?! You’re going to start losing blood!” The man fidgets with a necklace he has on. Suddenly Bad notices the man has _many_ necklaces on, they all seemed to be made of diamond. Bad couldn’t be any more shocked at this point but the man once again spoke up,

“I’ll strike a deal with you okay? Fix me up if you can and I’ll give you everything I’m wearing.” The man does a double take looking at his battered clothes adding, “Of value!” Bad doesn’t even need to consider it, he doesn’t need the diamonds but there was a man _bleeding out_ right in front of him. It did _not_ help that the man happened to be very pretty. Bad nods,

“That sounds fine with me, but you’re going to have to follow me to my home if that’s alright.” The man shrugs,

“Eh, dying to a murderer or dying in the woods from blood loss doesn’t sound too different, take me away!” Bad doesn’t have much of a response to that so he simply starts walking towards his home waving his hand,

“Be careful, tell me if you feel like you’re going to pass out.” He can practically hear the man’s smile,

“Yes sir!” Promptly wobbling on his own feet and letting out a small gasp. Bad turns his head at the noise and the man just waves, “It’s nothing, keep going! I’m right behind you,” Bad is honestly just so confused at this point he doesn’t even question the man continuing to walk towards his home. The whole time they walk Bad tries to ignore the small grunts or gasps of pain coming from the man. 

Bad helps the man into his house, and at this point, the man was losing it a bit. He’d been giggling and spinning around with Bad trying to calm him with promises of relief. Eventually Bad gets the man on his bed which will be extremely inconvenient later when he sees the blood seeping into his sheets. For now, he needs to help this man the best he can, he has no idea why he’s so compelled to do so. Maybe it had something to do with the smile the man was giving him, even if a bit delirious. 

Bad had patched up the man to the best of his abilities leaving him to rest while Bad actually makes the soup he’d planned earlier. He lights the kindling with a quick burn of his finger clearing the smoke from his head, letting out an audible sigh. He tastes it, adding some extra milk as his mother did.

He doesn’t realize how long he’d been in his own little cooking world until he hears some soft pattering coming towards him,

“So you didn’t kill me?” Bad huffs turning to the man who to his relief has seemed to gain color in his face, ghostly pale from blood loss didn’t suit him,

“Of course I didn’t, maybe you are here to use me for my medical supplies _then_ kill me! That’s even more cruel.” The man walks over to stand next to him in his kitchen watching him cook. It was so strange that he seemed to be so casual as if he wasn’t about to die on the forest floor mere hours ago,

“What are you making?” The man asks as if he’s not staring directly into the pot,

“Mushroom stew, that’s what I was in the woods for I was foraging.” He pauses to look at the man once again seeing he’s standing a bit awkwardly,

“How’s your wound feeling?” The man leans on his heels,

“Mm better, but still like someone tried to cut my side open you know?” Bad did not in fact know. But his guest seemed to be pleased with himself for the answer giggling even so he just continues stirring,

“That’s good, you’ll need to change the dressing on it soon you slept in that one after all.” The man nodded and stared at him. Bad was fine with it, he’s sure anyone would be pretty okay with a pretty person staring at them even if he’s a stranger. Attention is attention after all he’s been alone for quite some time out here,

“It smells nice, can I have some once you’re done?” Bad turns and raises an eyebrow at the man,

“Huh? Well, I guess you need to eat after all that blood loss but uh I don’t even know your name.” The man smiles it was actually quite genuine which definitely did not make Bad feel anything at all,

“My name is Skeppy, now can I have some?” _Skeppy_ what a strange name, fitting for an odd man covered with jewels and blood,

“Sure, my name is Bad by the way.” Bad scoops some of the stew into bowls for the both of them and shows Skeppy to the small table he has next to a window. Bad eats while watching Skeppy practically slurp his entire meal before setting down the bowl letting his eyes dart around the house,

“Your house is really cool, it’s just out in the middle of nowhere! And I think I saw a garden out the window? This place is a dream!” Bad’s ears go red at this, of course, he knows his home is pretty but hearing this stranger say it was just something else. He didn’t know how to describe it but it must’ve just been the lack of social interaction he is just a bit rusty. Yeah, that’s it. He smiles anyways,

“Thank you, I’ve worked on this place for a long time so I would hope it looks nice.” He studies Skeppy who just seems to be trying to take in the whole place his eyes wide, “Where do you live?” That gets Skeppy's attention,

“Me?” Bad shrugs,

“There’s no one else here, but if you don’t want to answer that’s okay. I understand not wanting to talk about certain things." Skeppy nods looking at everything but Bad,

“Uh- well you see, I don’t-” Skeppy sighs, “It’s complicated I guess, but all I know is I don’t have a home anymore.” That makes Bad frown, he’s been in the exact same place. Skeppy looks down at the floor fidgeting with the jewelry around his wrists Bad hadn’t even noticed. Bad turns to him with a soft smile, he must have been through a lot as well, 

“That’s okay, I understand.” They don’t say much after that, they don’t really need to. 

Bad is working outside when Skeppy talks to him again. He’s calling to Bad through an open window waving with a smile. He finally got out of his old blood crusted clothes and into some fresh ones Bad hadn’t worn in a while. The cream cardigan looked quite nice on him, he seemed to have gotten rid of all of his previous jewels. He looked lighter in a sense, he smiles much more free. Bad smiled back as Skeppy calls out to him,

“What are you doing over there!” Bad picks at the herbs a bit,

“Just checking on the basil and rosemary, how are you feeling?” Skeppy leans even further out the window pulling up his shirt to show his side,

“I redressed the wound! It was pretty easy, maybe dare I say better than how you did it!” Bad scoffs,

“Well, I was trying to make sure not to wake you up _and_ not touch you that much because you were asleep and that felt weird. So you’ve got to cut me some slack.” Skeppy lets his shirt fall back down leaning his elbows on the window,

“I’m very glad you are such a considerate man Bad I don’t know what I would do without you!” Bad stands up dusting himself off,

“First off you would be dead and are you bothering me for a reason? If you wanted something you could always just ask Skeppy I won’t deny you basic things.” If Bad wasn’t mistaken Skeppy goes red in the ears at that rubbing his neck,

“Well, I just- I wanted to ask if I could stay the night? I don’t have anywhere else to stay. I'm sorry. I’ll clean and cook! I was raised well enough to be good at those.” Bad doubted that but waves his hand walking back towards the house,

“It’s fine, I wouldn’t make you sleep in the woods with an injury like that one you still have to rest. You were even walking with a limp earlier! Just rest up for now no worries.” Skeppy smiled and nodded turning back to the house to do God knows what and Bad makes his way to the front of the house. As he walks he wonders for the utmost time today why he’s being so kind to this stranger. Maybe it’s because he’s hurt or maybe because he has nowhere else to go? He asks himself if it’s because a pretty stranger was nice to him and complimented his house. Deep down he knows it’s because he’s lonely.

He sees Skeppy attempting to pick up around the house. Bad thinks it’s cute when he finds something new like a book on remedies on Bad’s bookshelf or his small planter filled to the brim with Cornflowers. He practically lights up when Bad says thank you for the help even if it’s tacked on with a ‘you should be resting.’ Skeppy does eventually find himself a place to rest which happens to be on the wooden floor next to Bad’s bed. And that’s where they are now Bad staring at the man on his bedroom floor clutching onto a spare pillow for dear life. The image was sad truly, he shouldn’t be sleeping on the floor with his wound _still_ healing. So Bad ever the saint he gently pokes Skeppy’s head with his foot and calls a soft,

“Wake up sleepy head, you shouldn’t be down there,” Skeppy peaks open one of his eyes grunting when he sees it’s just Bad promptly barring his face in the pillow once again, “Skeppy come on you’re not going to heal like that…” He notices Skeppy stiffen a little at his words, it’s only the tiniest bit and Bad wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been so close. After a few more minutes of more stern persuasion, Skeppy gets up and starts off towards the door. Bad calls out, “Where are you going?” Skeppy rubs his eyes,

“Downstairs? I saw a couch down there…” Bad sighs,

“No need, you take the bed I’ll sleep downstairs you need it.” Skeppy pouts hugging the pillow in his arms tighter,

“This is _your_ home I’m not doing that to you! I invaded and will feel bad-” Bad cuts him off but gently tugging the pillow out of his arms and grabbing a blanket for himself, 

“Skeppy you need to rest, I can sleep on the sofa for one night! I’ve slept in my garden before I’ll be fine, now get some rest see you in the morning.” And without looking back at Skeppy Bad rushes to close the door making his way downstairs to the sofa. 

Bad lied, he was never the best sleeper, and sleeping on a sofa does not help that. But he smiles when he hears soft snores come from up the stairs, at least he’s okay. Bad didn’t sleep till he saw the sun slip through the windows. 

Bad woke up quite late, this isn’t unusual but the smell in the air was. Bad sits up whipping his head around until his eyes land on a familiar boy, “Skeppy?” Skeppy turns around grinning, though the sight wince didn’t go unnoticed,

“Bad! I’m making you some breakfast!” That scared Bad. He gets up trying to make it look like he isn’t panicked, 

“Oh really? What are you making?” Skeppy shrugs, 

“Nothing much just cutting up some fruit I found in a basket, how does your burner even turn on? There’s no ignition.” Bad can’t tell him that _he_ is the ignition so he tries to ignore it,

“That sounds good! Apples are my favorite. What about you?” Skeppy raises an eyebrow but doesn’t mention his lack of response,

“Oranges, I’m actually slicing one up right now, want some?” Bad nods and Skeppy passes over a slice of orange,

“Well, when you’re done just bring it over to the table, if you need help I’m always right here.” Skeppy just waves him off even though Bad can see the smile on his face and he walks over to the table himself. 

Skeppy settles himself in a chair of Bad just staring out the window to his garden waiting for him,

“Here you go!” Bad turns to see fruit arranged into a smile on his plate and he can feel his ears heat up. He’s not a _child_ but something about the gesture gets to him,

“Thank you Skeppy, this is very nice of you,” Skeppy hops into his one seat grabbing some orange for himself,

“No problem! It’s my thanks for you letting me stay here remember?” Bad nods,

“Yes I do, speaking of that how’s your side? I’m going to try to whip up some natural remedies for it if it still hurts.” Skeppy leans back now having moved onto an apple,

“I guess my side does still hurt, so that would be- uh nice.” Bad wondered about the pause but didn’t mention it, he didn’t need to pry,

“I’ll have to go out for a bit then, I’m out of mint.” Skeppy’s entire demeanor has changed fighting with his fingers, picking at the wooden table. Bad takes pity on him, he honestly doesn’t know what he’s feeling but he should at least try to make him happy, “You could come with me if you’d like? Unless that would hurt-” Skeppy cuts him off standing up,

“No! That would be amazing! It won’t hurt, I’m feeling better already!” As much as Bad thought maybe this was a horrible idea he still gave Skeppy a change of clothes and they were out the door. 

They walk through the woods near Bad’s house, Bad knows exactly where he’s going. He looks for the stubble markers he’d left around the trial, the little triangles that pointed the way carved into trees. Skeppy seemed to be doing _decently_ , he didn’t seem to be struggling to walk, maybe just a bit out of breath too soon. Bad was dealing with his own problems, the smoke was back clogging his thoughts. He can’t let it get too bad or the horrid urge to burn the entire forest to the ground is going to overtake him again. He turns to the man following him,

“Um, Skeppy do you mind? I have to uh,” Skeppy’s eyebrows raise at this,

“Do you need to pee or something?” _Perfect excuse_ ,

“Yes, I’m sorry I’ll be right back!” And without a second thought, he sprints into the woods. He doesn’t know to even doo till he finds himself next to a log. His mind isn’t working, his hand is burning, then suddenly so is the log. He jumps back when the smoke clears suddenly gasping at the log on fire in front of him. He needs to get out there, god this part was the worst, he runs around trying to make sure the log won’t catch onto anything and once he moves all dry leaves he sprints out of there as fast as he could. His fingertips felt scorched but if he looked down they were still the same pale as always, it’s truly terrifying.

He makes it back to Skeppy who seems to just be laying against a tree staring up at the leaves till he catches Bad’s eyes again and grins,

“That was a long piss, you good?” Bad nods his expression much more relaxed thanks to the clear lack of smoke filling his brain. It was a decent enough sized burn for his head to be clear for quite a while two days or three probably,

“I’m fine, but the mint is right over here. I think you’ll quite like it actually! It’s a pretty place.” Skeppy nods following along a bounce in his step that Bad never noticed before, he's been more focused on his limp.

They make it to a beautiful clearing far deeper into the woods than one would think. The clearing is a lush green tall grass and flowers surrounding a golden blue pond. With a waterfall dripping through the rocks stacked above. The pond is quite large, maybe even closer to a small lake the surface completely unbothered with a calm still look to it. This was one of Bad’s favorite places he’d found it when looking for the clearing to actually build his house, he would sit on the rocks where the waterfall began sitting in the middle watching the water swirl around and fall into the lake. He also remembers the mint he gathers ever so often up by said waterfall and starts to head up the rocks. But right before he can start the small climb he hears a breathless,

“Wow.” He turns to look at Skeppy who is looking in awe at the water he’s grinning ear to ear, Bad can hear his giggles as he runs over to the side of the water. Bad calls out to him,

“Want to come with me? The mint is up here,” He gestures up the rocks. Skeppy looks up from where he stands next to the water smiling,

“Sure! You never told me there’s a _waterfall_!” Bad finds himself smiling back,

“It is nice, isn’t it? I like to come out here on calm days, I swim somethings too,” Skeppy somehow gets more excited,

“Could we go swimming?! Please! I haven't swum in so long it would be so nice,” He trails off wistfully and Bad can see him space out,

“Uh sure..? It wouldn’t bother me you can hop in I just need to you know grab the mint,” Skeppy nods grin wide as ever running back over to the water taking off his shoes,

“Thank you! Oh god, this is going to feel amazing,” Bad shrugs off the reply even if he did find it a bit off and continues up the rocks. 

Bad quickly comes across some mint just by the top of the waterfall right where he remembered it from last time. He quietly picks some of the plants, putting them in the small basket he brought with him just for the occasion. He looks at the leaves taking in the smell, he forgot how nice just the scent of mint was in general. It smelt cold but in a homely way the way water feels when splashing it on your face, it’s just such a clean and pretty scent. He gathers the rest into his basket and climbs back down trying desperately to push away the thought that was running through his head, _‘Skeppy smells of mint.’_

Bad makes it down placing the basket by some rocks next to the pond where he looks up at the water. He sees Skeppy and his whole face flushes immediately, he looks so _alive_. The man hadn't looked his way yet but he was basically dancing in the water splashing it around, he seemed so utterly free. Bad gets a closer look and sees that he physically looks better in the water the color in his face was back completely and his side didn’t seem to bother him during his dance. He looks so pretty in the sunlight.

Bad walks over to the water sitting down in the sand next to the water,

“Are you having fun out there?” he calls out to Skeppy who whips around grinning. Bad can’t help but notice he’s practically glowing,

“Yes! I haven’t swum in years!-” That's concerning, “-The water is so nice, come out here!” Bad shakes his head bring his knees up to his chin,

“I’d rather not, thank you though.” Bad had a complicated relationship with water, his soul being built with fire has something to do with it. Water didn’t hurt him in any way that would be stupid, it just made him feel a bit uneasy. But with Skeppy walking towards him hands extended out to him all thoughts of discomfort seeped out of his brain,

“Come on Bad, just for a minute, the water feels great!” The confident smile and extended hands render him useless, how could he say no to that? He sighs and smiles back kicking off his shoes and wades in the water fully clothed, Skeppy seemed to have done so as well, he didn’t want to make this any more awkward. He wades through the water to grab Skeppy’s open hands feeling his fingers wrap around his gently pulling him further into the water. Bad giggles either out of joy or nerves he has no idea, he just keeps looking in Skeppy’s eyes. 

Skeppy splashes both of them with water, they are completely soaked head to toe. Bad never intended for their small splashing session to turn into completely dunking each other's heads under the waterfall, but now he's looking at a joyous laughing Skeppy hair flattened on his head. Skeppy seems to notice Bad’s staring and stops laughing a bit awkwardly trying to shake his hair, to dry it maybe even fluff it up. Bad gently shakes his head and offers him a soft smile,

“I think your hair looks good, up or down.” Skeppy pauses taking his hand out of his hair and is dazed for just a second before grinning back up at Bad, 

“Idiot,” Bad smiles back at him, their eyes almost completely leveled before Skeppy tackles him into the waterfall again. 

They are walking out of the water and somehow Skeppy grabbed his hand again dragging him around to find their shoes. Skeppy looks around to see his shoes that had been neatly placed next to the shoreline and Bad’s who had been more messily thrown off in a rush,

“Your shoes are pretty old don’t you think?” Bad snorts slipping said shoes on,

“Yeah, years probably. Yours are quite shiny if we are talking about shoes.” bad isn’t wrong as he catches another glimpse of Skeppy’s bright blue shoes, they had a weird shine to them he couldn’t quite explain,

“They were made for me, my mother is a tailor and cobbler, she's an impressive woman.” Oh, now that’s interesting,

“She is? That’s lovely! I guess she’ll be angry about you tearing up your old clothes then. You’re lucky your shoes made it out alive you were running from who knows what.” Now Skeppy goes silent, Bad expected it though. They hadn’t really brought up what brought Skeppy into the woods, and if the nasty wound on Skeppy’s side said anything he really didn’t want to know. He just wants to make sure Skeppy feels a bit safer, he doesn’t know how to quite do that yet.

“I don’t think she’d mind, I don’t think I’ll see her again after all.” The grip on Bad’s fingers tightens the slightest bit. _Oh no,_

“I’m sorry.” Skeppy looks up at him with sad eyes. Bad really does _not_ know how to comfort others he’s been in the woods alone for god sake. All he can think to do is silently bring Skeppy closer to his side with a very light tug, “Want to head back?” Skeppy looks at him a more satisfied look on his face,

“Yes.”

They make it back while the sun is setting and Skeppy all but demands they stay outside a second longer to watch it. Bad, seemingly completely weak to Skeppy’s will stands beside him as the sun sets behind a hill in the distance. Bad truly isn’t interested in the sunset he’s watched thousands upon thousands alone, but now he has something he never had. Skeppy. He looks at him the man is grinning his eyes sparkling at the sunset, “I haven’t enjoyed a sunset like this for so long Bad,” It’s all but a whisper,

“Really?” Skeppy nods looking out towards the distance. It’s all so strange, the little comments about his life. He doesn’t say anything, of course, he doesn’t think he could if he tried, but the questions chew at his brain. _Why haven’t you swam in years? Why haven’t you properly enjoyed a sunset in forever? Why were you covered in blood and sweat when you came to me?_ The most important, the most insistent question gnaws at him, _What happened to you?_ He doesn’t say anything, he just admires the way the sunset sparkles off Skeppy’s wind-dried hair. 

They make it back inside once the sun is far past set, Skeppy insisted on staying for the entire thing and Bad couldn’t pass that up. Now Skeppy was standing in the middle of the living room dripping wet so Bad starts,

“You can go change, just grab something of mine, I’ll start a fire down here for us.” Skeppy perks up at the mention of fresh clothes and sprints towards the stairs as fast as his injury can take him. 

Bad runs over to the fireplace quickly doing a bit of breathing before setting the fire kindling alight. Once there’s a steady burn Bad backs up shaking his hand out with a hiss. He stares at the flames, they call out to him as always they were white noise to him now. He would stare a bit longer but Skeppy will be down soon so he has to act normal. The first thing that comes up is making drinks so he gets started on mint tea for the both of them and prays Skeppy won’t ask how he started the fire. 

Skeppy walks down a while later, seeming to find some clean clothes. Bad forgot he even owned a long black sleeve shirt and some simple black pants, he looked cozy. It definitely didn’t do things to Bad’s heart, not at all. Skeppy walked over and couldn’t help but notice his limp was much better than it had been, it’s been weirdly better since they’ve come back from the lake. Skeppy walks over and looks into the cups Bad had set out of them,

“What’s this?” Bad smiles nudging the steaming cup towards him,

“Just mint tea, I thought you might like some.” Skeppys looks rapidly between the cup and Bad and suddenly starts beaming,

“I would love some!” He grabs the cup and Bad stifles a giggle when he sees Skeppy wince back at the heat of the cup. Bad lifts his cup and walks over to sit on the floor near the fire which was still burning as bright as ever and calls to Skeppy who’s just watching him with an expression he can’t quite read,

“Come here, I have a blanket, you must still be cold from the wet clothes I know I am.” Complete lie but Bad didn’t have time to touch on it when Skeppy scampers over and rests himself right next to Bad and gets under the blanket with him. And he means _right_ next to Bad their knees even grazed a bit. They didn’t say much, just sip on their tea and watch the fire dance around to a song that no one can hear. Except for Bad. He wouldn’t speak a word of it though. 

Bad though he was drifting off to sleep, mint tea tends to do that to him before he feels a soft thud on his shoulder. He knows what it is but his now cherry-red face and pumping heart doesn’t want to believe it. He turns anyways and glances down that the mop of raven hair on his shoulder, yep Bad was going to combust. He wasn’t going to say anything until he hears a quiet and uncharastically soft voice say,

“I think I owe you an explanation.” Bad shifts only the slightest bit to see the man’s face, the warm glow illuminating it,

“Huh?” Skeppy sets his cold tea on the floor, he only drank half,

“About why I’m even out here, why I was bloodied, I know you wonder about it. Any sane person would.” Bad takes in a sharp breath,

“Skeppy it’s okay, I really don’t mind if you don’t want to talk about it.” Bad can feel Skeppy shake his head on his shoulder,

“No, it’s okay, I just-” He hears Skeppy take in a deep breath, “-I really want to tell you, you’re everything safe you deserve to know.” _You’re everything safe_ ,

“Skeppy it’s okay I promise you don’t have to _because_ it is safe here.” Skeppy is getting a bit riled up at this point,

“No! Bad, I just I- have to okay, you were so kind and nice to me and I owe you this.” Bad gains a bit of courage in himself and puts his hand on Skeppy’s back rubbing up and down with feather-light touches,

“If you’re absolutely sure of course you can, but if you don’t feel like doing it even for a second you can stop. No questions asked.” Skeppy relaxes into the touch on his back and smiles,

“Thank you Bad.” Bad can only hum as Skeppy takes a deep breath and begins,

“Well firstly, I bet you’ve gathered this but I was running away from my home-” He pauses a bit fiddling his fingers, “-old home.” Bad can only nod along not wanting to interrupt in any way, “Basically I- I ran away because someone did this,” He points down to bandage, “And I didn’t want to go back- Bad it was _terrifying_.” Skeppy takes a moment gathering his breathing and Bad sits there patiently, you couldn’t make him leave Skeppy for anything right now, “I guess for this to make sense I have to show you,” Bad raises an eyebrow at that,

“Show me what?” Skeppy leans further into him if even possible,

“Promise you won’t hate me?” Bad’s so confused, but knows one thing for sure,

“I could never.” Apparently, that’s all it took, Skeppy slowly peeled himself off of Bad’s side, shifting to sit in front of him, their knees touching in the middle. Skeppy moves his cold cup of half-full cup of tea in between them,

“You won’t freak out?” Bad shakes his head, deep down in his gut he knew exactly where this was going all the pieces in his head were being pieced together all at once, The small bubble of tea floating in front of his face is the final piece. Bad looks on in awe as Skeppy moves his fingers around manipulating the small bubble of tea in front of him floating it over to Bad in a heart shape, “Surprise…?” Bad can only look between Skeppy and the cup of tea where the bubble had returned, 

“Skeppy?! That was- oh goodness- so cool!” Skeppy looks shocked for a second before a blinding grin takes over his entire face,

“Really?! You think it's cool too!? Bad I think it’s the coolest thing, I can only do that with water usually, but that tea was so diluted I guess it just worked!” Bad is just grinning his face off because of course, Skeppy is just like him,

“So you can manipulate water?” Skeppy bounces back to Bad’s side resting his head on his shoulder once again,

“Well, only small amounts in the way I just did it, but this part is really cool here,” Skeppy gently pulls on one of Bad’s hands in front of him placing his own palm on top, “Okay give me a second for this,” Bad watches Skeppy closes his eyes his face scrunching up, it was cute. All thoughts about how pretty Skeppy looked in the lightning came to a sudden halt when he starts to see water secrete from the other’s palm,

“Skeppy _what_?!” Skeppy, still closing his eyes, laughs,

“I could keep going! I’ve filled buckets before, it’s just normal drinking water.” Bad is in shock because this man, this beautiful man right beside him, had the ability to create water in his hands,

“Skeppy- I don’t- I can’t find the words-” Skeppy cuts him off,

“It’s okay I find most people don't really know what to say when they find out something like this,” _most people_ , 

“So others know about this?” Skeppy cringes, he can feel it,

“Well yes, but-” He sighs, “-It got weird once they did.” Bad’s heart drops, he thinks he can tell where this is going,

“Would you mind talking about it…?” Skeppy nods,

“Sure, I don’t mind, it was more surreal than traumatizing, it probably should’ve hit me harder than it did honestly.” Bad only listens as Skeppy scoots closer into him once again, “It was normal at first when I discovered I could do it about a year ago, I told my mom of course, what else could I do?” Skeppy laughs at his own words leaning heavier into Bad’s side,

“She took me to the village doctor, she thought I was dying, and he was amazed nothing like this has ever happened after all,” Bad has to try to hold back a sigh because he thought he knew something like this has never happened, but this man was warping his entire world view,

“And it was supposed to be a secret- just between the doctor and my family but of course the old man let it slip. The whole town would come to me asking for these dumb favors like fill a bucket, water their flowers like I was a tool.” Skeppy rubs his eyes,

“They were idiots, all of them, but it got out of hand. They started actually wondering _where_ my water came from and how much I could actually do, it got creepy.” Bad gently as he could pulled Skeppy’s hands away from his face placing them on his lap again,

“Everyone started _harassing_ me just because of some water, they would wait outside my house and everything, I hated it so so much. Even when they would shower me with diamonds because I said I liked them it was just so awful,” Bad brings his free hand to one of Skeppy’s gently placing it on top hoping it's any sort of comfort,

“Skeppy…” Skeppy puts on a sad smile and shakes his head,

“It’s okay, but the last straw was what actually brought me here-” He cuts himself off with the saddest laugh Bad has ever heard, Bad squeezes his hand a bit, “This man just walked up to me, he was a strange man I never liked him, but he came up to me with a knife.” Bad knows where this is going and his heart is in his stomach, “I saw it and tried to run of course, but he was just way too fast, god that sounds so _dumb_ -” Bad’s hand had moved from Skeppy’s back to his side and he gave him a squeeze,

“It’s okay Skeppy, it’s not dumb, he’ll never find you out here.” Skeppy nods not even looking at him,

“Yeah… he won’t,” He pauses for a minute staring at the water dripping off his hand, “He tried to cut me open to see if my blood was water or magic, I don’t really remember.” That left Bad stunned. A man so crazed he would try to cut open a beautiful boy for what, his blood? What would the man even do with it? Was it just a morbid curiosity? Was he deranged? That last one isn’t even a question,

“Skeppy I’m-” Bad chokes a bit, he couldn’t help it, “- _so sorry_ I’m so glad you ran here, away from that horrid village. You’ll be safe here, I promise, a safe haven just for you and me.” Skeppy sighs and leans into Bad more, he never met his eyes, it was understandable, Bad could feel the wet drip of tears on his hand,

“Thank you.” They don’t say anything after that, they just sit on the floor next to a now spilt cup of cold tea and a raging fire. 

Bad can feel Skeppy begin to doze off on his arm; it's the gentle nodding that tunes him into it. He smiles and leans his head on top of the other’s taking it in. He sees the fire is still blazing, it shouldn’t still be Skeppy probably knows this, but he hasn’t said anything about it. Bad decides to take it into his own hands. He gently shakes Skeppy watching his eyes open a bit and asks,

“Skeppy?” Skeppys looks at him and then closes his eyes again humming,

“Mhm?” Bad moves his hand From where it was on top of Skeppy’s and shakes his head when he feels Skeppy reach out for it again,

“Not right now, I want to show you something.” He feels Skeppy go still against him and adds, “Good, something good.” Skeppy sighs,

“Good.” Bad laughs and holds up his hand a bit,

“You can’t freak out either okay?” Skeppy sits up some sort of realization dawning on him, and a grin starts to crawl its way onto his face,

“Bad, I couldn't. I just told you about a crazy man who tried to stab me for water. You could say you’re a demon and I wouldn’t be shocked.” Bad chuckles, _yeah something like that_ ,

“Come back over here silly,” He says while Skeppy scoots himself back over to Bad’s side wrapping one arm around him. Bad takes a deep breath in and twisted his fingers just the slightest bit, the fire moved along with them. Skeppy gasps eyes wide and Bad thinks he made a mistake until he hears Skeppy let out a joyous laugh leaning into him even more,

“So that’s why you’re so warm!” Bad doesn’t even know what to say to that he can only stare at Skeppy in awe as the man laughs his eyes crinkling in the corners. Bad can’t help but realize over and over how pretty he is, and he’s right here. With him. Bad smiles,

“I guess it is,” He turns to the fire quickly and sees Skeppy look at it expectantly with him. Bad huffs with a smile and raises his fingers again, swirling the fire round and round till he makes it form some heart-like shape. _Just for him_. Skeppy beams at the fire totally encapsulated in the flames, it was so weird to Bad, it was as if Skeppy was staring directly at the rawest part of him and smiling. In a way he is. 

The fire does eventually tucker Bad out, after all, it still _burns_ it’s the same as it's always been. He just has someone next to him holding his hand, that’s new. Someone just like him. Skeppy seems tired out too, he’s been pretty exhausted since talking about his old village so Bad helps him get up the stairs half carrying him.

Skeppy settles into bed hair falling in front of his eyes in the prettiest way. Bad couldn’t tell if he is smitten or jealous that he could look so beautiful even on the edge of sleep. Bad sighs turning around walking himself down to his sofa when he feels the smallest tug from behind him. He looks at Skeppy who is giving him a lazy smile,

“Just stay with me.” And that’s all Bad needed to hear. He watches Skeppy scoot away a tiny bit leaving some room on Bad’s bed which he tucks himself into. They don’t face each other, of course not that would be awkward, Bad sits and contemplates though. He thinks about if he turned around right now he could admire Skeppy under the moonlight gently pouring into his room. He could do it, but he won’t. He can feel the embers in the ashes downstairs make fun of him. 

They are out of the house by the next afternoon, this time on their way to do some forging in the woods for raspberries,

“Bad this pie is going to have to be the best thing I’ve ever tasted because these thorns are a pain in the- OW!” Skeppy trips over more thorns which is getting concerning at this point, the man has scratches all over his legs because he _insisted_ on wearing shorts. He said they were more comfortable or something, Bad just thinks he likes blue,

“Skeppy you chose to wear those! You can’t complain, but we can always go back if you want to.” Skeppy shakes his head eyes wide,

“No! Not yet, we have to get these first, I can’t mess up your foraging for a second time.” Bad chuckles and turns back towards the woods noticing the small hill they would have to climb,

“Okay! Whatever you say, just be a bit more careful.” Skeppy nods carefully behind him climbing up the grassy hill. Flowers litter the hill, reds and blues even some purples, he finds this place lovely it’s strange he’s never been out this way before- then it catches his eyes. Bad takes a sharp breath in stumbling back Skeppy running over to him with wide eyes,

“Bad! Are you okay?!” Bad carefully picks himself back up eyes wide in horror as he looks over the hill. They were _way_ further out than Bad had originally planned as he stands in horror looking down at an all too familiar village. Skeppy follows his eyes looking down at the village as well eyes going wide,

“Do you- is that..?” Bad looks at Skeppy the man’s eyes wide, not with fear but concern. That calmed down Bad, 

“Yes, I uh, used to live there. We are too far out, we have to go back before it gets dark.” He doesn’t say anything else just picking up his half-full basket of raspberries and walks down the path they came trying to still his shaking hands. Skeppy scurries after him, still concerned with what just happened but opts to not say anything. They walk back silently.

Bad goes out to his garden when they get back leaving Skeppy to do whatever he pleases inside. He needs some alone time, which is funny considering that’s been the past couple years of his life. He sits staring at the dirt on his hands in front of his tomato plants. He can’t think of anything but that cursed village, it shouldn’t have affected him as much as it did. It honestly wouldn’t have bothered him as much, but Skeppy was there. Skeppy changes everything. He choose not to think about it much after that, he wasn't in the mood. 

Bad sighs standing up dusting himself off, his eyesight was a bit hazed, he didn’t mind. He walked to the front door holding on to the handle a minute longer than usual before pushing it open. He’s immediately hit with the sound of a gentle humming from the kitchen. Bad absolutely enamored, knowing who it is walks over to the kitchen and asks,

“Skeppy?” The man in question whips his head to look at him and smiles,

“Bad! I’m making you a sandwich, I thought you might want one because uh you know…” Bad cringed at the implications of Skeppy’s words trailing off, but definitely feels his entire face go red,

“Thank you Skeppy that’s very nice of you,” He says smiling, he knows it’s not much of a response to such a _kind_ thing in his eyes but Bad hasn’t had something like this in years. Bad is shooed out of the kitchen with something along the lines of a playful, ‘Get out! I’ve gotta work my magic in here!’ Which drags a laugh out of Bad, a magical water blessed boy making something just for _him_ , he couldn’t be luckier. 

Bad sits by the fire he started watching the flames dance. They are so cruel to him sometimes, taunting him for what he is even though they are one in the same. Now they praise him, tell him he’s done well, the nicest they’ve ever been to him really. 

Skeppy walks over and gently shakes his shoulder handing him a sandwich he just made for him,

“Hope ‘ya like it, I can fix it if you don’t.” Skeppy could have handed him poison ivy in a bowl and he would’ve happily ate it all,

“It looks delicious Skeppy thank you so much,” Bad says, smiling. Skeppy smiles back at him sitting right beside him, he looks at the fire and back at Bad to ask,

“Is it talking to you?” Bad raises his eyebrows and Skeppy looks a bit panicked waving his hands,

“Well, I just assumed! Like I can hear the water speak I thought it would be the same for you…” Bad swallows and laughs,

“That’s why you liked the lake so much! Awe was it being nice to you?” And he tacks on a bit more quietly, “-uh the fire does speak to me too, not a lot though.” Skeppy leans back,

“That lake was very nice, it called me pretty, it was flattering.” Bad looks up at the ceiling with a hidden smile, the lake is right,

“The fire here is quite mean to me you’re lucky.” Skeppy laughs notability scooting over to Bad,

“I wasn’t allowed around big bodies of water, they thought I would kill someone or something,” He scoffs, “It’s not like a _normal_ person could just drown someone, god idiots.” Bad feels a head lean on his shoulder unruly hair tickling the side of his face,

“I wasn’t allowed to go to bonfires with my friends, I would sit inside and bake.” Skeppy tucks himself further into his side the sun having set outside long ago,

“What happened to your friends? I didn’t have many.” Bad leans his head atop of Skeppy’s,

“We weren’t close, I didn’t even know most of their names, I would just run around with them sometimes. I miss them sometimes, they thought I was cool.” Bad laughs a bit at the end and Skeppy shoots back,

“ _I_ think you’re cool, Bad you’re the coolest man in the world to me. You talk to _fire_ now that's amazing.” Bad can only squeeze Skeppy closer to him, if possible, facing on fire,

“You’re too nice.” They don’t talk much after that just sitting together long after they finished their sandwiches. Bad stares at the fire and catches some glances at Skeppy, _He’s so lovely in the firelight._ Bad wandering to thoughts of fire and pretty boys when Skeppy blurts out,

“I hope I make you feel safe.” Huh,

“What do you mean?” Skeppy sighs and fiddles with his fingers,

“You’re like all warm and safe, you even let me stay in your home! All I’ve done is…” The trails off looking around in a bit of panic before continuing, “-I don’t even know what I’ve done!” Bad tries to calm him down grabbing his left hand with his,

“Skeppy it’s okay! You’ve done _so much_ for me you don’t even know it!” Bad tugs a bit at his hand to make him face him, “You are _here_ and that’s all that matters, you’re kind to me. You even are the same as me! Do you know how special you are?” Skeppy shakes his head with a small smile on his face, “You’re special in the way I wouldn’t have anyone else in my home with me. You’re the best thing to come out of that cursed woods.” Now Skeppy is smiling with his eyes a small happy giggle escaping him,

“This is exactly what I meant Bad!” Bad smiles,

“Really?” Skeppy nods quickly, placing a kiss on Bad’s cheek, and before Bad can even _process_ that Skeppy leans back on his shoulder. Even with his face out of view he still hears the soft whisper of, “Home.” Bad leans his Head back on top of Skeppy’s and whispers out,

“Stay with me?” They both knew the implications of that,

“I could never do anything else.”

It’s been two weeks. Two weeks of pure unfiltered bliss. Bad has never felt anything like it, running around the open fields with Skeppy taking him to every lake he knows. The pure rush of warmth he gets when seeing Skeppy hop around in the water telling him what the water is saying, “Bad it loves me!” “Bad come on it wants to see you!” Bad is positive the water couldn’t care less about him but he would hop in for Skeppy without fail. 

At night they would sit by the fire and talk, Bad would quietly listen to Skeppy ramble about whatever new thing he found that day whether it be an area, a plant, even an animal. Bad would listen to him go on about the small frog he found that day when Bad was out searching for some wild onions, it’s the best part of his day. 

The fire would talk to him during these things, but Bad has spent years ignoring the flames and it helped that there’s a beautiful distraction in his life now. Bad told Skeppy about his need to burn things, Skeppy didn’t freak out or call him dangerous, Bad _knew_ he wouldn’t but it was always a fear in the back of his head. Instead, Skeppy offered him his hand a and gentle smile dragging them out the door,

“Where are we going?” Skeppy beamed back at him,

“To get you firewood! We can make a pile for whenever you need it!” Bad almost melted completely on the spot, letting him drag him into the woods in the early hours of the morning. 

Skeppy told him he wanted to get rid of his old jewelry. He came up to Bad with his all gathered in his hands messy and tangled. Bad thought it was him asking for him to untangle it but all he got was a shake of Skeppy’s head and a whisper, “I want them gone.” Bad instantly understood taking the jewels from his hands. Skeppy’s mood seemed to get better even with the simple removal of the jewels, and Bad walked over placing a careful kiss on his forehead, 

“They’ll be gone by tomorrow, get some rest.” Skeppy smiles, his cheeks stained red as he walked upstairs and Bad got some shoes. 

Bad melted the jewels. Skeppy doesn’t question him greeting him with a hug the next morning and a quiet ‘thank you’ just for him. Everything out here is just for them. Their safe haven. 

Now they are laying in a field staring at the stars. Bad knows nothing about the stars, it doesn’t seem like Skeppy does either, but watching him point out all the random dots making his own constellations. They were fighting about if a cluster of stars looked more like a small dog or rat before dissolving into laughter. Now they sit and stare at the sky in comfortable silence. Bad can feel Skeppy’s hand in his, their fingers intertwined in the soft grass. Bad has had something gnawing at his brain for days, 

“Skeppy?” Skeppy continues to stare at the stars,

“Yes?” Bad sighs sitting up,

“Can you do something for me? Just for a second.” Skeppy sits up with his eyebrow raised,

“I mean sure? What do you need?” Bad holds out his spare hand,

“Nothing much I just want you to put out some of my fire.” Skeppy’s eyes widen,

“Oh.” Bad nods with a careful encouraging smile and Skeppy can’t help but smile back, “Of course I’ll do it, come here.” Bad scoots over to where Skeppy is holding one of his hands with both of his and looks up at Bad, “Whenever you’re ready.” Bad smiles,

“Thank you.” Bad silently wills the smallest bit of flame to his fingers, nothing that could hurt Skeppy even if this goes the worst way possible. But of course, it doesn’t, the flame is out in a second with two water-soaked hands gripping on his slightly burnt one, soothing the burning sensation. Skeppy looks up at Bad who is looking at him in awe, 

“Uh- was that okay?” Bad starts grinning,

‘That was perfect! I can’t- Skeppy I can’t hurt you this is amazing!” Bad runs a hand through his hair still smiling, “I can’t believe I found someone I can’t hurt.” He flops back on the grass watching Skeppy following him, “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” Skeppy’s face goes red,

“You don’t mean that.” Bad sighs with a lazy smile,

“I mean every word, maybe I’m even a little bit in love with you.” He hears Skeppy take in a sharp breath before his going wide,

“You-” He stops, “-You’re in love with me?” Bad hums,

“A bit.” Skeppy starts laughing it’s the most alive thing Bad’s ever heard,

“Bad come here!” Skeppy grabs Bad’s face as gently as he could placing their foreheads together, Bad can feel his breath on his face, “I’m kind of in love with you too.” Before Bad can even get anything out Skeppy asks, “Can I kiss you?” Bad nods and Skeppy basically slams into him.

When they walk back home Bad swears he can hear the stars giggle at them.

That night they are in their bed wrapped in each other’s arms and Skeppy is rambling about something Bad doesn’t quite understand. Something he learned in his village long ago, Bad was happy to listen. Especially when he got to see Skeppy glowing under the light of the moon his eyes shimmering. Bad held him tighter as he started to nod off, Bad was starting too as well, but he watched Skeppy’s breathing even out and left him with a, 

“Goodnight, love.” And a small kiss pressed to his hair. 

They have the same pattern as they always had, just _way_ more affection. Bad never realized that Skeppy was truly this clingy to him. Not that he minded of course, rather he loved the attention from his lover. Skeppy would hang off his side when cooking, Bad would do the same for him. When they go to the lakes Skeppy would insist on holding hands when jumping from high places just to convince Bad to actually jump with him. 

Bad would talk to the fire and god does the fire love Skeppy. The fire constantly asks about him, it asks when they’ll sit by the fire again even though they do it every single night. With all the love the flames give to Skeppy Bad is starting to believe him when he says the water speaks kindly of him too. 

Bad watches Skeppy stare out the window one day, he looked torn, almost scared. Bad walks over to him placing a hand on his back rubbing small circles,

“Is everything alright?” Skeppy sighs leaning into the touch,

“Yes, everything’s fine, just remembering some things.” That’s when it hit Bad, Skeppy was staring in the direction of his old village, 

“Oh dear... do you want some mint tea? I know it’s your favorite.” Skeppy leans over with a smile pressing a kiss to Bad’s temple,

“You’re too sweet, but yes please.” Bad nods gently as he could dragging Skeppy away from the window over to the kitchen,

“It’s because I love you!” Skeppy wraps his arms around Bad as he heats up the kettle, Skeppy says he’s warmer when he uses his fire,

“I know you love me, I love you too.” Bad knows he means it. Skeppy shows him every day how much he loves him. Whether it be simple tasks around the house for him, making him his favorite food, or just talking to him when he needs to burn something for a bit, Bad knows Skeppy loves him. The floaty feeling that comes with it all. It feels like he’s drowning in the best way possible. 

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are always appreciated love u guys :D TALK TO ME ON TWITTER I WANNA TALK LMAO @Bleeding_Cosmos


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